MBA Vs PGDM Vs PGP

Management has become one of the most sorts after professional qualification among the graduates irrespective of the stream one has taken during one's graduation. Be it a commerce Graduate, an Arts Graduates or students who have done or are doing their Engineering or Science undergraduate degrees, a Post Graduate Management Course has become their first preference.

Going by the increasing inclination of the students towards management courses the Management Institutes having varied courses at postgraduate levels are also increasing every year. The finest Management colleges in India have achieved excellence in offering benchmark management education competing with management education in the other leading management institutes of the world.

The Management colleges in India offer various Graduate, Postgraduate Management like MBA and Diploma - like PGDM and PGP - programs followed by Doctorate Programs like P.hD in management or FPM to name a few.

Although most of the Post Graduate Management program is of two year duration yet they are called by different name like MBA - A Post Graduate Masters Degree Program, PGDM - A Post Graduate Diploma in Management- offered by some institutes, PGP - A two years Post Graduate Program- a flagship management program of India's prestigious Management Institutes  ie. Indian Institute of Management.  All these programs know by different names offering almost the same specialities, syllabus and duration do create confusion in the minds of Management Aspirants.

Thus here comes the frequently asked question from almost all postgraduate management program seekers. What is the difference between MBA and PGDM or PGP? Whether I should go for an MBA degree or PGDM will be more beneficial? If both MBA and PGDM or PGP are equivalent then why institutes are offering these courses considered to be same with different names. In short, everybody is seeking a comparison between these courses i.e MBA Vs PGDM Vs PGP.

Let start with the easy one. What is the difference between PGDM and PGP? The answer to this question is as simple as the question itself is. PGDM i.e Postgraduate Diploma in Management is equal to or equivalent to PGP i.e Post Graduate Program a flagship program of Indian Institute of Management in India and some of the other Top independent Management institutes. More or less the name PGP if given to PGDM programs of these prestigious institutes. So sometimes it is being also is PGP PGDM by these institutes. So there is nothing much to differentiate between these courses except their names and the names and level of institutes providing these courses.  Worth mentioning here that PGP's are exclusively offered by the IIM's thus the exclusive name coined for their postgraduate courses.

With the hope that the confusion between the PGDM's and PGP's offered by various management institutes is cleared by now, we move on to the next comparison and real one i.e why MBA and why not PGDM or the other way round?

The word Diploma in name might be creating an element of confusion in the minds of management aspirants as they are aware of the literal meaning and difference between the word “Degree” and Diploma” making it worth comparing and that too with great caution as there are more of similarities between these courses and some of the easily ignorable dissimilarities that can be left untraced if taken casually.  So let us have a look at these courses. To start with the common features of these courses:

If there are so many commonalities then why two names for the same course. How a Masters degree is equivalent to and not exactly equal to a Post Graduate Diploma. Here lies the fine difference - between these practically equally acceptable management -courses which differentiate these course from each other and justify their different names.

With the hope that the confusion created by the term “Diploma” in the nomenclature of PGDM must have been banished to a larger extent and that the main reason why postgraduate courses offered even by IIM's or XLRI are named as PGDM is because an autonomous body cannot offer MBA degree. However, both courses command the same position as far as validity is concerned. However, students opting for PGDM courses must be double sure about the accreditation status of the colleges offering these courses. As institutes offering PGDM courses needs to be accredited by AICTE. However, some caution is required in case of MBA as the colleges should be affiliated to a University recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC) and the colleges may also get accredited by AICTE.

Finally, those who will be opting for MBA degree will be eligible to do PhD the Doctorate degree in line and FPM will be the next level for PGDM holders.